Abstract

Why do protests radicalize to violence? We develop a general theory of protest radicalization by adapting individual-level and group-based theories of collective action. We argue that the dynamics of mobilization have implications for protest radicalization. Protests are composed of individuals with heterogeneous cost-risk tolerances which influences their political participation. When moderate factions are present in sufficient numbers, they can limit the willingness of more radical participants to escalate protest tactics. Using a series of formal models, we derived testable hypotheses that we analyze using data provided by the Mass Mobilization Project. The results support our hypotheses.

Keywords Protest radicalization · protest · protester violence · social movements · protest dynamics

Onursal, D., & Hobbs, A. (2025). The Dynamics of Protest Radicalization. Terrorism and Political Violence, 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1080/09546553.2025.2504014